CaratForUs is a U.S.-based, Shopify-centered jewelry business built around three core purchase paths:
- Buy Now — jewelry with current dynamically calculated pricing.
- Community Group Buy — standardized campaigns with transparent tiered pricing.
- Custom Jewelry — guided intake, manual consultation/quoting, CAD/specification approval, and Shopify checkout.
MVP1 also includes two focused programs built on those core paths:
- Luxury Steals — limited-availability extreme-value merchandising using normal Shopify inventory/checkout with special Final Sale rules.
- Let Us Beat Your Quote! — competitor-offer acquisition and review workflow connected to Custom Jewelry and eligible regular purchases.
This README is the consolidated product and architecture overview. Detailed locked policy documents under docs/ control their respective domains and must be read before implementation.
Authoritative MVP1 policy documents:
docs/BUY-NOW-RETURNS-AND-DISPUTE-EVIDENCE.md— Buy Now discretionary returns, RMA eligibility/deadlines, refund/merchandise-credit remedies, return shipping, evidence, and dispute records.docs/LUXURY-STEALS.md— Luxury Steals inventory/scarcity, Final Sale rules, required disclosures/acknowledgments, claim separation, and evidence.docs/LET-US-BEAT-YOUR-QUOTE.md— competitor custom quotes, active online listings, competing Group Buys, verification, guarantee/fallback eligibility, acknowledgments, and evidence.docs/WARRANTY-CLAIMS.md— 1-year limited manufacturing warranty claim intake, authorization, inbound shipping, inspection, coverage decision, remedies, and evidence.
If a detailed locked policy document conflicts with a summary in this README, the applicable locked policy document controls. Do not silently change a locked decision. Unsettled details must not be invented or converted into customer promises.
CaratForUs combines strong jewelry value with U.S.-based accountability, pre-delivery quality inspection, domestic support, warranty service, transparent specifications, and a simpler buying experience.
Primary positioning:
Better value. Better protection. Better buying experience.
Supporting concept:
Jewelry pricing that makes sense. Service that stays close to home.
CaratForUs should compete for customers who might otherwise buy directly from overseas sellers without presenting itself as a broker or middleman. Primary marketing should generally focus on customer benefits rather than factories, manufacturers, China, or the upstream supply chain.
Brand-wide reasons to choose CaratForUs include U.S.-based accountability, QC before delivery, domestic support, reduced overseas-buying burden, transparent pricing, clear specifications, warranty/after-sale support, and one accountable seller.
Use Shopify for commodity commerce and custom-build only CaratForUs-specific gaps.
Prefer Shopify-native capabilities for:
- storefront and Online Store 2.0 primitives;
- cart and checkout;
- customer accounts;
- orders and order history/status where practical;
- payments;
- standard transactional commerce behavior;
- normal product inventory, including Luxury Steals where practical.
Custom functionality is justified for:
- structured jewelry cost/pricing engine;
- Group Buy campaign/tier engine and qualifying-unit counts;
- frozen Group Buy pricing snapshots;
- variant-aware Group Buy pricing and final-price/refund ledger;
- custom-design intake and approval evidence;
- RMA/return workflow and evidence required by locked policy;
- Luxury Steals acknowledgment/evidence where Shopify does not provide the required record;
- Let Us Beat Your Quote intake, verification workflow, eligibility calculations, acknowledgments, and evidence;
- warranty claim intake/workflow/evidence;
- admin controls required for those records.
Avoid premature headless commerce, microservices, complex event infrastructure, and unnecessary SaaS dependencies.
Each jewelry design should have a structured master product definition containing, as applicable:
- category/design metadata;
- CAD files, renderings, photos, videos, and manufacturing notes;
- base metal type and finished weight;
- center, accent, and side-stone specifications;
- stone type, natural/lab status, shape, dimensions, carat, color, clarity, cut/quality, certification, and supplier;
- moissanite/colored-gemstone specifications;
- manufacturing complexity/labor;
- packaging, shipping, insurance, warranty reserve, payment costs, and other cost assumptions;
- Shopify/SKU mappings;
- historical pricing/campaign snapshots.
Support independently configurable costs for precious metals, lab/natural diamonds by specification and shape, moissanite, colored gemstones, accent stones, CAD, casting, setting, polishing, assembly, QC, packaging, shipping, insurance, warranty, and supplier-specific costs.
Diamond/gemstone pricing must not assume all shapes cost the same.
Support separate profiles such as Group Buy, Buy Now, Custom Order, Wholesale, Friends & Family, and marketplace channels. Profiles may have distinct margin, minimum-profit, fee, and rounding rules.
All money calculations must be deterministic and auditable. Do not use binary floating point for money.
Buy Now prices derive from current cost data rather than permanent hard-coded prices. Inputs may include metal, stones, labor/manufacturing, packaging, shipping/insurance, payment processing, warranty reserve, other allocated costs, and required margin/minimum profit.
Recalculate at least daily, targeting twice-daily precious-metal updates where practical, then synchronize approved prices to Shopify.
When a campaign opens, freeze/version its applicable cost inputs, pricing assumptions, tier thresholds/percentages, and eligible-variant prices. Market changes after opening must not retroactively alter campaign tier prices.
There is no mandatory minimum buyer/unit count. One qualifying unit can proceed at Tier 1.
Default: 3 tiers, configurable from 2 to 5 per campaign.
Group Buy discounts are percentage-based and apply to the frozen campaign base price for the selected eligible variant:
Variant Group Price = Frozen Campaign Base Price for Eligible Variant × Applicable Tier Percentage
Thresholds use qualifying units sold, not unique buyers. Three eligible pieces purchased by one customer count as three units. Cancelled/refunded units that no longer qualify stop counting.
Before publication, validate every allowed variant against configured minimum gross-margin percentage, minimum dollar profit, and any variant-specific floor. Unsafe tiers must be blocked or require an explicit authorized override.
For products whose weight changes predictably:
Calculated Weight = Base Weight at Base Ring Size + ((Selected Size - Base Size) × Weight Added per Full Size)
Half sizes use proportional increments. Support exact finished-weight overrides where linear estimation is inappropriate. Reuse the base-plus-increment model for chains, bracelets, necklaces, bands, and other suitable products.
Default customer-facing ring pricing bands:
- Size 2–6
- Size 6.5–8
- Size 8.5–11
Internal cost still evaluates expected weight by exact size. Bands are configurable per product and should use a safe cost basis so the highest-cost size in the band remains profitable.
Ring products should provide a Find Your Ring Size guide with U.S. whole/half sizes, common international conversions, diameter/circumference guidance, measurement instructions, and wide-band fit warning. Products define allowed size range/increment, base size, quarter/custom-size availability, resizing restrictions, and notes.
Supported metal library includes Sterling Silver, 10K, 14K, 18K, and Platinum. Product creators explicitly choose which metals each product offers. Metal selection connects directly to pricing/variants. Product pages should provide compact education only for offered metals.
Active Group Buy pages should show:
- qualifying units sold;
- current tier/percentage;
- next threshold and units needed;
- selected variant's current Group Buy price;
- selected variant's current Buy Now comparison price;
- current dollar/percentage savings;
- next-tier price and additional savings;
- countdown/time remaining;
- configured tier markers.
At the final tier show Best Price Unlocked. Do not use crowdfunding-funded percentages or imply a minimum is required.
Core message:
Join now. If the group unlocks a lower price later, your final price drops too.
If a lower tier is ultimately reached, earlier participants receive the same final eligible-variant price. Tier-price adjustments are refunded to the original payment method where supported, not store credit.
Calculate/store refund due at order/line-item/variant level, hold it through production/QC, and process at shipping. Maintain an auditable, idempotent refund ledger with campaign/order/customer/payment references, original and final prices, refund amount/status, processor references, failures, overrides, and history.
Group Buys are standardized, not custom-design orders. Customers choose only campaign-approved options. Do not provide a free-form design-change field. An optional order note is logistics/clarification only.
Each materially different configuration must remain a separate Shopify line item. Quantity greater than one is allowed only for the same exact configuration. Tier qualification and cancellation/refund calculations operate at line-item/unit level.
Group Buy orders may be cancelled for a full refund until the campaign closes. Cancellation removes qualifying units and can move the live campaign back to a prior tier before close. At close, final unit count/tier lock and the order becomes committed with no discretionary cancellation/return. Defects, wrong specifications, shipping damage, warranty, and fulfillment failures are separate claim paths.
Campaign stages: Open → Closed → In Production → Quality Inspection → Shipping → Completed.
Order states may include Order received, Campaign open, Final price confirmed, Refund pending, In production, QC complete, Shipped, Refund issued, and Delivered. Automate where practical; retain manual override with audit history.
MVP1 includes lightweight Share/Copy Link/native share flows and practical channels such as text, email, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok where supported. Do not require complex social direct-post APIs.
Email participants at meaningful milestones such as tier unlock, best-tier unlock, campaign close/final price, and optionally when very close to the next tier. Do not email for every unit change.
Maintain a public Past Group Buys archive preserving actual final unit count and historical starting/final unlocked price. Homepage may show the five most recent. Completed products may later sell as Buy Now at current pricing.
Completed campaigns support low-friction Bring It Back / Notify Me If It Returns interest capture. Also provide a simple Request a New Group Buy form; do not turn either into a custom-design questionnaire.
The authoritative implementation is docs/BUY-NOW-RETURNS-AND-DISPUTE-EVIDENCE.md.
Key current rules:
- An approved RMA is required before a discretionary Buy Now return is sent.
- The eligibility clock starts from the carrier-confirmed delivery date.
- Days 0–7: customer must request the RMA within 7 calendar days; eligible merchandise must be received by CaratForUs no later than Day 14 after original delivery to qualify for the standard refund to the original payment method, subject to condition/eligibility.
- Days 8–30: an otherwise eligible discretionary return may receive either (a) refund to the original payment method subject to a 50% restocking fee — customer receives 50% of the eligible merchandise amount — or (b) 100% merchandise credit for the eligible merchandise amount. Once approved, merchandise must be received within 10 calendar days after RMA approval unless a documented exception or applicable law requires otherwise.
- After Day 30: no discretionary Buy Now return.
- Engraved, resized, altered, personalized, customized, or otherwise restricted Buy Now items are not eligible for discretionary return when the applicable restriction was properly disclosed.
- Customer pays return shipping for an authorized discretionary return and must use tracking and appropriate insurance as required by the authoritative policy/instructions.
- Separately purchased expedited/optional outbound shipping is non-refundable for discretionary returns as defined in the authoritative policy.
- Defects, wrong item/specifications, transit damage, materially-not-as-described issues, non-delivery, payment errors, and warranty matters are separate claim workflows and must not automatically receive a discretionary-return restocking fee.
Do not reintroduce the obsolete rule that Days 8–30 are “store credit only.”
The authoritative implementation is docs/LUXURY-STEALS.md.
Customer-facing name: Luxury Steals.
Positioning direction:
Exceptional jewelry. Exceptional prices. Very limited quantities.
Once they're gone, they're gone.
Luxury Steals uses normal Shopify Buy Now inventory/checkout wherever practical but has separate merchandising and return rules.
Core requirements:
- real limited inventory;
- no fabricated scarcity;
- no overselling/backorders;
- zero inventory becomes sold out/unavailable;
- “Only X left” only when supported by actual inventory;
- assigned Luxury Steal pricing must be explicit/auditable;
- no fabricated comparison prices/savings;
- additional coupons apply only when an authorized promotion explicitly includes Luxury Steals;
- Let Us Beat Your Quote fallback discounts are excluded unless policy later changes.
All Luxury Steals purchases are Final Sale: no discretionary returns, exchanges, cash refunds, or merchandise-credit returns.
Final Sale must be conspicuously disclosed and affirmatively acknowledged through an unchecked/non-bypassable acknowledgment before the applicable purchase can complete. Retain exact acknowledgment text/version, timestamp, product/variant/order/cart reference as available, and affirmative acceptance.
Final Sale does not automatically deny legitimate defect, wrong-item/specification, transit-damage, materially-not-as-described, non-delivery, payment-error, warranty, or legally required claims. Those remain separate workflows.
The initial request is free and intentionally low-friction. Required contact fields: first name, last name, email, phone.
Starting point:
- existing CaratForUs design; or
- I have my own idea / Starting from scratch.
Optional multiple inspiration uploads should support common image formats and PDF sketches where practical.
Required free-text prompt should let the customer explain what they want to create/change. Structured fields should remain limited to high-value qualifiers such as jewelry type, approximate budget, and desired completion date/no deadline.
Follow-up preference:
- Schedule a consultation meeting; or
- Please contact me.
On submission, create a project/reference, store answers/uploads, send customer confirmation, notify CaratForUs, and do not charge the Design Deposit yet.
When CaratForUs is ready to begin actual design/CAD work, charge a $49 Design Deposit.
- Credit it toward the final jewelry price if the customer proceeds.
- If CaratForUs completes the agreed design/CAD stage and the customer declines to proceed, refund the $49 with no questions asked.
- If the customer abandons before the agreed design stage is completed or stops responding, refund is not automatic and may depend on work completed/circumstances.
MVP1 uses email for consultation, revisions, and general communication rather than a full customer project portal.
When ready, staff creates a customer-specific Shopify approval/purchase page from a reusable template showing final CAD/renderings/design images, product/specifications, metal, stones, dimensions/size, engraving, construction notes, final price, $49 credit, balance, estimated timeline, warranty, shipping, and final-sale terms.
Before checkout, require affirmative unchecked approval that the customer reviewed and approved the displayed design/specifications and material terms. Preserve the exact page/spec version, CAD/media references, acknowledgment text/version/timestamp, final specs, price/deposit credit, and Shopify order/payment references.
Once final design/specifications are approved and the jewelry is purchased, the Custom Jewelry order is final sale except for covered defects, incorrect specifications, shipping damage, or material failure to match the approved design/specifications.
A richer project portal remains Post-MVP.
The authoritative implementation is docs/LET-US-BEAT-YOUR-QUOTE.md.
The program lets customers submit:
- a custom jewelry quote;
- an item currently for sale online; or
- a competing Group Buy.
A genuine, verifiable, materially comparable custom jewelry quote issued within the 7 calendar days immediately preceding submission can qualify for the full guarantee.
For a qualifying verified recent custom quote, CaratForUs will match or beat the competitor's jewelry price itself, or, if CaratForUs cannot, issue 10% off one eligible CaratForUs purchase, capped at $100.
The fallback is single-use, non-transferable, has no cash value, is generally non-stackable unless expressly authorized, expires after 90 days, and excludes Group Buys and Luxury Steals unless policy changes.
Quotes older than 7 calendar days remain reviewable leads. CaratForUs may voluntarily match/beat them, but there is no guaranteed match/beat and no 10%-off fallback.
Active online listings are accepted for review and verification, but under the current locked policy they are review-only: no guaranteed match/beat and no 10%-off fallback. A customer screenshot alone does not establish a live/verifiable offer.
Active competing Group Buys are accepted for discretionary review but carry no guaranteed match/beat and no fallback.
The comparison is the jewelry price for a materially comparable piece. CaratForUs does not promise to match competitor production timeline, return/cancellation policy, warranty, shipping terms, payment terms, promotions, or other service terms. CaratForUs's own terms apply to any resulting purchase.
Overseas sellers are eligible for review. Do not add hypothetical customs/import charges merely to make CaratForUs appear cheaper, and never participate in or advise inaccurate customs declarations.
Require sufficient authentic CAD/design/specification and pricing/seller evidence for guarantee eligibility. Fabricated, altered, AI-generated fake, forged, unverifiable, non-comparable, or otherwise non-qualifying evidence does not trigger the guarantee/fallback.
MVP1 review is manual. Automate intake, quote-age calculation, evidence capture, status, acknowledgment/version storage, and duplicate-benefit prevention where practical; do not auto-commit CaratForUs to a competitor price.
Required material acknowledgments must be explicit, unchecked/non-bypassable, versioned, timestamped, and retained as evidence.
The authoritative workflow is docs/WARRANTY-CLAIMS.md.
The warranty applies across Buy Now, Group Buy, Custom Jewelry, and Luxury Steals where applicable. It covers qualifying manufacturing defects in materials, construction, setting, or assembly under normal use. It does not cover normal wear, scratches, dents, impact damage, bent/worn prongs caused by use, stone loss caused by damage/wear, misuse, improper care, sizing changes, unauthorized third-party repairs/modifications, loss, theft, or other non-covered damage.
MVP1 requires a dedicated Warranty Claim Form/equivalent intake. Submission does not itself establish coverage. The customer must receive authorization/instructions before sending jewelry for inspection.
For an authorized warranty inspection, the customer pays inbound shipping to CaratForUs and must use tracking and appropriate insurance under the locked policy. CaratForUs inspects the item after receipt and determines coverage and the appropriate remedy. For a valid covered claim, CaratForUs may choose repair, replacement, refund, or another appropriate resolution subject to applicable law/platform rules.
A possible CaratForUs-authorized local-jeweler repair is an internal service option, not a customer-facing entitlement. Do not advertise or promise it before CaratForUs chooses it for a specific claim. Unauthorized third-party work/expense is not automatically reimbursable.
Final Sale status does not automatically eliminate a legitimate covered warranty claim.
Chargeback/dispute defensibility is a core design requirement, but policies must not be represented as overriding rights required by law, card networks, or payment processors.
Material terms should be conspicuous in context rather than buried only in Terms. Use explicit unchecked acknowledgments for unusual/high-risk terms such as Group Buy commitment/final-sale terms, Custom Jewelry final approval, Luxury Steals Final Sale, and Let Us Beat Your Quote material terms.
Preserve as applicable:
- exact acknowledgment text/version and policy version;
- timestamp and affirmative action;
- customer/account/order/project/campaign/submission references;
- exact product/variant/configuration;
- product/media/specification snapshot;
- price charged and applicable pricing/campaign snapshot;
- custom CAD/spec approval evidence;
- RMA/claim/warranty records;
- customer communications;
- QC records/photos where practical;
- carrier/tracking/delivery/signature evidence;
- refund/credit/benefit references and audit history;
- manual overrides and reasons.
Later edits to live product/policy/design pages must not overwrite historical transaction evidence. Duplicate/retried refund, credit, warranty-remedy, or promotional-benefit processing must not create duplicate customer value.
- Every outbound customer shipment is insured for the full order value.
- Every shipment has tracking.
- Any shipment with order value above $100 requires signature confirmation.
- Customers may not waive required signature above $100.
- Orders at $100 or less may ship without signature unless CaratForUs requires stricter controls.
- Use the checkout/payment-approved shipping address unless a later change is explicitly reviewed/documented.
- Post-order address changes require audit history.
- Store carrier/service, tracking, ship date, insured value/reference where available, signature flag, delivery evidence, address, changes, and claim/exception references.
- Shipping/insurance costs must be represented in pricing so they do not silently erode margin.
Products may use actual photos/videos, CAD renders, dimensioned CAD, clearly labeled AI visualizations, and optional manufacturer-provided media.
Required distinctions:
- Actual Product Photo
- Actual Product Video
- CAD Rendering
- CAD Dimensions
- AI Visualization — final appearance may vary slightly
Never present AI-generated media as a photograph/video of a finished manufactured item.
Use centrally managed FAQ content with categories such as Group Buys, Pricing & Refunds, Production & Delivery, Materials & Stones, Ring Sizing, Custom Jewelry, Warranty & Repairs, Returns & Cancellations, Payments, and Shipping & Insurance.
Allow reusable contextual FAQs on product pages and product-specific entries when truly needed. Keep Group Buy explanations concise and link to fuller help content.
MVP1 includes:
- Shopify storefront and Buy Now product pages;
- active Group Buy pages with tiers, progress, countdown, live savings, timeline/status, sharing, milestone email, and standardized variants;
- Past Group Buys, Bring It Back, and Request a New Group Buy;
- product media/CAD/dimensions/labeled AI visuals;
- ring-size guide and metal education;
- Shopify checkout/customer accounts/order behavior where practical;
- purchase-path-specific disclosures/acknowledgments and transaction snapshots;
- Buy Now RMA/return flow;
- Custom Jewelry intake, uploads, $49 Design Deposit, email-driven design process, and final Shopify approval/purchase page;
- Luxury Steals collection/merchandising, scarcity/inventory controls, Final Sale acknowledgment/evidence;
- Let Us Beat Your Quote intake/review/verification/evidence flow;
- 1-year limited manufacturing warranty and warranty claim form/workflow;
- tracked/insured shipping and signature controls;
- FAQ, policies, contact, About, and Why Buy From Us content.
MVP1 must retain/support as applicable:
- immutable order/configuration/policy snapshots;
- material acknowledgment logs/versioning;
- Group Buy pricing snapshots, qualifying-unit history, cancellations, and tier history;
- Group Buy refund ledger/processor references;
- Buy Now RMA/inspection/refund/credit evidence;
- Luxury Steals inventory/acknowledgment/claim evidence;
- Custom request/intake/uploads and final CAD/spec approval;
- Let Us Beat Your Quote submission/verification/eligibility/decision/benefit records;
- warranty claim/authorization/shipping/inspection/remedy evidence;
- QC evidence;
- shipping/tracking/full-value insurance/delivery/signature evidence;
- customer communications where available;
- manual dispute-evidence packet assembly;
- idempotent processing and complete audit history for value-moving operations.
Unless later promoted by an owner-approved decision:
- voting on the next Group Buy;
- customer photo upload/moderation and completed-order galleries;
- buyer map/geographic social proof;
- referral/affiliate rewards;
- SMS/push milestone notifications;
- advanced gamification/streaks/check-ins;
- complex direct-post social integrations;
- rich Custom Design customer portal with message history, revision tracking, file exchange, and customer dashboard.
Encourage lower-cost payment methods where commercially appropriate while keeping credit-card payment available, subject to processor rules and applicable law.
If a feature does not help CaratForUs launch sooner, protect pricing/margins, drive acquisition/conversion, or materially improve customer experience, it belongs in the backlog.